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Painting

The Attributes of Painting, François Bonvin (1817–1887), The Barber Institute of Fine Arts

photo credit: The Barber Institute of Fine Arts

Painting info

Title

The Attributes of Painting

Artist(s)

François Bonvin (1817–1887)

Collection

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts

Date

1875–1880

Medium and Support

oil on canvas

Size

50.2 x 61.3 cm

Location

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts

Acquisition method

purchased with the assistance of the Resource/Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund and the Friends of the Barber Institute, 2001

Accession number

2001.7

Private loan

No

Description

This still life depicts the materials used in its making – including palette and brushes, tubes of paint, a portfolio of drawings, an inkwell and a paintbox. The French artist Bonvin painted the objects in the direct and uncompromisingly physical manner of the Realist painters of the mid-nineteenth century. However, the painting was also inspired by Jean-Baptiste Chardin whose 'Attributes of Painting and Sculpture' dates from 1728. Bonvin’s canvas is therefore both a truthful study of artfully arranged objects and an allegory of the art of painting.